REVIEW: Puppy Love by Kelly Moran

In Puppy Love by Kelly Moran, Avery Stowe Is joining her mother in Redwood Ridge after her divorce comes through. With no job and a young daughter in tow, she figures the small town would be what she needed until she could regroup. When her daughter, Hailey, finds a severely injured dog on the brink of death, they rush him to the town’s veterinarian.

Cade O’Grady had a bad day, including putting down a long-time patient, so when Avery and Hailey come rushing through his doors, he mistakes her for a careless pet owner. Despite their bad start, the more time he spends with her, the more he comes to like her, and the feeling is mutual.

While this is a sweet romance with plenty of laughs, it also highlights the struggles of a single parent of a nonverbal Autistic child. I admired Avery and how patient she was with Hailey. When Hailey has an outburst and Avery’s mother appears embarrassed, Avery becomes angered on Hailey’s behalf. Avery also develops her own coping mechanisms to help her through.

Her gaze darted everywhere at once, never landing on one spot for more than a millisecond. After a moment, she squealed and flapped her hands.
Well done, Mother, Avery imagined her saying.
Since Hailey was a nonverbal Autistic, at least so far, Avery often choreographed her own dialogue in her head. It had helped her cope.

I adored how Cade interacted with Hailey. Touch was a trigger for her, which made it difficult for anyone to touch her. Yet he took the time to teach her how to do a fist bump so she would be able to touch other people and have them touch her. In time, she comes to accept some comfort from Cade.

She’d never tried to cuddle with him before. She’d never so much as touched him. If he moved, he’d wake her, so he settled back and rested on the couch. The weight of her tiny head on his thigh and smell of her kid shampoo was oddly endearing.

Everyone in town is in everyone’s business, which was hard for Avery to get used to, considering she had been alone for years, even when she was married. When an incident had per passing out, the whole town finds out through Twitter.

New gal in town, Avery, fainted right in our OR. Poor thing!
Avery rubbed her forehead, her gut churning. There were fifty-three @ responses ranging from oh no to the dear lass to hope she’s okay. She pulled out her phone, followed Redwood Ridge, and tweeted: Doing threat. Thanks for the concern! Jeez. She had one hundred and twenty-one new followers.
This was The Twilight Zone. In Mayberry.

Readers get introduced to Cade’s brothers, Drake, an anti-social widow of four years, and Flynn, who has been deaf since birth. Both were also great with Hailey, especially Flynn who tried to communicate with her via sign language. I’m looking forward to reading more about them in future books.

Puppy Love is an incredibly well-written story about a woman trying to find her way and a man willing to accept her and her daughter just the way they are. There’s more laughter than drama in the book. It mainly focuses on family, acceptance, and Hailey’s growing attachment to the O’Grady’s. I highly recommend giving it a read.

Book Info:

 February 21, 2017 | Kensington Publishing/Lyrical Books | Redwood Ridge #1

After a passionless marriage under the scrutiny of high society, Avery Stowe is taking back her life. All she wants is a little privacy and a quiet place to raise her autistic daughter, Hailey. Redwood Ridge, Oregon, seems to offer all the right ingredients. Except for the problem of the local sexy veterinarian. The last thing she needs in her life is to fall for his irresistible allure, even if he is a nice guy who keeps doing her favors. But the well-meaning patrons of her new hometown have other ideas, and it appears playing Cupid is one of them.

Cade O’Grady has never met a woman he couldn’t handle, but when Avery Stowe walks into his office late one night cradling an injured puppy, he’s struck stupid. Which might explain her total lack of interest in him. But now that she’s working for his family’s clinic, he doesn’t have to lust from a distance. He might just have a chance at convincing Avery—and her too-guarded heart—that falling for the right man isn’t a mistake . . .